Only unintended wet-exit I've had to do in the last 1000 hours of fairly serious paddling was BECAUSE I was wearing a PFD. Caught in turbid water and couldn't get under the kayak to get my roll on where there was solid water to push against - and trust me when I say that I was NOT willing to leave that cockpit until I gave it everything I had. Not that I plan to stop wearing one, but I'm moving to an approved inflatable suspender type PFD this season. I'd like to be able to control when I have bouyancy and when I don't. Only reason I'm mentioning it is that this issue isn't as black and white as it seems. Good personal choices are what makes a good paddler better. ~daniel~ __________________________________________________________________ Looking for the perfect gift? Give the gift of Flickr! http://www.flickr.com/gift/ *************************************************************************** PaddleWise Paddling Mailing List - Any opinions or suggestions expressed here are solely those of the writer(s). You must assume the entire responsibility for reliance upon them. All postings copyright the author. Submissions: PaddleWise_at_PaddleWise.net Subscriptions: PaddleWise-request_at_PaddleWise.net Website: http://www.paddlewise.net/ ***************************************************************************
Daniel said: >Only unintended wet-exit I've had to do in the last 1000 hours of fairly serious paddling was BECAUSE I was wearing a PFD. Caught in turbid water and couldn't get under the kayak to get my roll on where there was solid water to push against - and trust me when I say that I was NOT willing to leave that cockpit until I gave it everything I had. Not that I plan to stop wearing one, but I'm moving to an approved inflatable suspender type PFD this season. I'd like to be able to control when I have bouyancy and when I don't. Only reason I'm mentioning it is that this issue isn't as black and white as it seems. Good personal choices are what makes a good paddler better.< ~daniel~ I notice a difference between the two types as well; I have both, including two suspender styles, one unmodified and one modified for gear. I can chose whichever I want for the conditions I expect to be prevalent (for a day paddle anyway). There are _definitive_ advantages to each type, though I may splurge on a flotation PFD with the adjunct C02 as a compromise some day when I get a new boat. Whenever I get a new piece of gear or PFD, anorak with a hood, etc., I go out and try the gear in every conceivable permutation I can think of, including layback rolls for snagging - you name it. I actually like the full support of a fully foam-filled PFD for sculling and generally don't worry about the situation you site. It sometimes comes down to being able to understand the best way to manipulate your paddle over to the desired location, either by slicing or spearing. Big bladed paddlers with a long shaft can be difficult. However, enough whitewater paddlers have been in tight spots on the river around rocks and bad hydraulics that I know that the situation can be mastered, though I generally like my river shorty these days with sufficient flotation and torso protection. Having said all that, nothing is black and white when it comes to sea kayaking. Anyone who says it is, must be either a kayak club trip facilitator who has club policy that must be maintained, or someone who truly has an idiotic view of life from the seat of a small vessel. I need to get together with you sometime Daniel; just trying to get my head above water here at home - had another deplorable week with bad news from Yvonne's physician. I assume your enthusiasm for sea kayaking hasn't waned yet. Doug *************************************************************************** PaddleWise Paddling Mailing List - Any opinions or suggestions expressed here are solely those of the writer(s). You must assume the entire responsibility for reliance upon them. All postings copyright the author. Submissions: PaddleWise_at_PaddleWise.net Subscriptions: PaddleWise-request_at_PaddleWise.net Website: http://www.paddlewise.net/ ***************************************************************************
Doug wrote: >>Daniel said: >Only unintended wet-exit I've had to do in the last 1000 hours of fairly serious paddling was BECAUSE I was wearing a PFD. Caught in turbid water and couldn't get under the kayak to get my roll on where there was solid water to push against - and trust me when I say that I was NOT willing to leave that cockpit until I gave it everything I had. Not that I plan to stop wearing one, but I'm moving to an approved inflatable suspender type PFD this season. I'd like to be able to control when I have buoyancy and when I don't. Only reason I'm mentioning it is that this issue isn't as black and white as it seems. Good personal choices are what makes a good paddler better.< << I had that problem when I first started using a drysuit when surfing on the WA coast in January. After quickly learning to burp out as much air as possible once the drysuit was closed up, I still occasionally had the problem of being set up to roll on the opposite side that my PFD (and residual drysuit air) buoyed me up on. Worse, when switching the paddle to roll up on the other side the motions to do so invariably also floated me over to the other side creating the same problem repeatedly whichever side I switched over to until I ran out of air. To try to solve that problem before finding myself swimming in big surf again (a situation I found far less enjoyable than paddling there) I went to pool practice and wore two PFDs. After much trial and error I hit on the solution when I tried recovering in the shallow end of the pool where I couldn't reach down deep to try to skull to the other side (as I had been trying--with awkward difficulty). The solution is to get into the roll position you are best at and if you find that you have floated up on the wrong side simply make a short stroke that keeps your paddle near the front deck and perpendicular to it as you go around its curve. The blade edge should be nearly touching the deck. This will flip you to floating up on the side you wanted to be on. Next feather your paddle so you can slice it back under the deck into the original roll position again and roll from there. It is very quick and easy to do this if you know how. To come closer to a bomb proof roll one definitely needs to practice this technique because that situation can be very frustrating otherwise. *************************************************************************** PaddleWise Paddling Mailing List - Any opinions or suggestions expressed here are solely those of the writer(s). You must assume the entire responsibility for reliance upon them. All postings copyright the author. Submissions: PaddleWise_at_PaddleWise.net Subscriptions: PaddleWise-request_at_PaddleWise.net Website: http://www.paddlewise.net/ ***************************************************************************
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